Share of population with no formal education in Liberia
Liberia: Share of population with no formal education was 36.0% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Share of population with no formal education in Liberia, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of population with no formal education in Liberia stood at 36.0%. That is the lowest value across all 31 years on record.
That represents a change of down 19.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population with no formal education in Liberia peaked at 99.1% in 1870 and was at its lowest, 36.0%, in 2020.
That places Liberia 9th out of 111 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 31 years of available data.
Share of population with no formal education in Liberia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 99.1% | — |
| 1875 | 98.9% | -0.2% |
| 1880 | 98.6% | -0.3% |
| 1885 | 98.2% | -0.4% |
| 1890 | 97.8% | -0.4% |
| 1895 | 97.2% | -0.6% |
| 1900 | 96.5% | -0.7% |
| 1905 | 95.0% | -1.6% |
| 1910 | 93.4% | -1.7% |
| 1915 | 92.4% | -1.1% |
| 1920 | 89.6% | -3.0% |
| 1925 | 89.9% | +0.3% |
| 1930 | 91.0% | +1.2% |
| 1935 | 91.9% | +1.0% |
| 1940 | 91.3% | -0.7% |
| 1945 | 91.1% | -0.2% |
| 1950 | 91.3% | +0.2% |
| 1955 | 90.6% | -0.8% |
| 1960 | 88.5% | -2.3% |
| 1965 | 85.8% | -3.1% |
| 1970 | 84.2% | -1.9% |
| 1975 | 78.7% | -6.5% |
| 1980 | 72.2% | -8.3% |
| 1985 | 65.5% | -9.3% |
| 1990 | 60.8% | -7.2% |
| 1995 | 60.9% | +0.2% |
| 2000 | 56.7% | -6.9% |
| 2005 | 52.1% | -8.1% |
| 2010 | 44.7% | -14.2% |
| 2015 | 41.3% | -7.6% |
| 2020 | 36.0% | -12.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 99.0% | 98.9% | 99.1% | 2 |
| 1880s | 98.4% | 98.2% | 98.6% | 2 |
| 1890s | 97.5% | 97.2% | 97.8% | 2 |
| 1900s | 95.8% | 95.0% | 96.5% | 2 |
| 1910s | 92.9% | 92.4% | 93.4% | 2 |
| 1920s | 89.8% | 89.6% | 89.9% | 2 |
| 1930s | 91.5% | 91.0% | 91.9% | 2 |
| 1940s | 91.2% | 91.1% | 91.3% | 2 |
| 1950s | 90.9% | 90.6% | 91.3% | 2 |
| 1960s | 87.2% | 85.8% | 88.5% | 2 |
| 1970s | 81.5% | 78.7% | 84.2% | 2 |
| 1980s | 68.8% | 65.5% | 72.2% | 2 |
| 1990s | 60.8% | 60.8% | 60.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 54.4% | 52.1% | 56.7% | 2 |
| 2010s | 43.0% | 41.3% | 44.7% | 2 |
| 2020s | 36.0% | 36.0% | 36.0% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Liberia
More education data for Liberia
- Enrolment in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 284,875 (2022)
- Enrolment in primary education, female (number), annual growth rate 1.15 % change on previous year (2022)
- Enrolment in primary education, female (number), per capita 0.053 units per person (2022)
- Enrolment in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 284,866 (2022)
- Enrolment in primary education, male (number), annual growth rate -1.94 % change on previous year (2022)
- Enrolment in primary education, male (number), per capita 0.053 units per person (2022)
- Enrolment in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 274,573 (2020)
- Enrolment in secondary education, both sexes (number), annual growth 1.78 % change on previous year (2015)
- Teachers in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 37,210 (2022)
- Teachers in primary education, both sexes (number), annual growth rate 18.33 % change on previous year (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population with no formal education in Liberia?
- Share of population with no formal education in Liberia was 36.0% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population with no formal education recorded in Liberia?
- The highest recorded value was 99.1% in 1870.
- What is the lowest share of population with no formal education recorded in Liberia?
- The lowest recorded value was 36.0% in 2020.
- How does Liberia rank for share of population with no formal education?
- Liberia ranks 9th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population with no formal education rising or falling in Liberia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Liberia data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population with no formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of adults aged between 15 and 64 years old with no formal education.